Happy 2008

Happy New Year! I hope you and yours enjoyed your holidays back in December. For me, the year ended well and now we have reached one of my favorite times of any year: ACC Basketball is here. This year, the Tar Heels are enjoying their 3rd longest number of consecutive weeks ranked # 1, but it really doesn't matter now. It won't matter until April, except for helping determine the seeding for the NCAA tournament in March.

Do I like this UNC team? Absolutely. Last year with Freshmen guards, Carolina almost made the Final Four. This year Ellington and Lawson are Sophomores, and they have dramatically improved their playmaking and decisions. Lawson is scoring both inside and outside, Ellington is solid and improved defensively, and he is stronger. UNC lost a lot with Brandon Wright going to the NBA early, but Thompson and Stepheson are contributing, and Hansbrough is good enough to handle the post most of the time. Point guard depth is not a concern, because Quentin Thomas is a Senior and has played well late last year as well as so far this season.

The biggest challenge UNC will face in the ACC comes, as usual, from Duke. Duke is much improved from last season and have scoring threats all over the perimeter. It will be exciting to watch the UNC-Duke games this year, as always, but I do think the Heels still have a slight advantage there because Duke has a lot of young players, and not enough front court depth to handle the Carolina front court consistently.

NC State is playing well, but without a point guard that is proven, ACC play will be an adventure for the Wolfpack every game. Clemson is a solid team this season, and should easily make the NCAA. Virginia will eventually be good, but recently they have played inconsistently. Other than those teams, it is hard to see who will make the Dance.

As for college football, true to my convictions, I have boycotted all the bowl games. Until NCAA football adds a playoff system and a legitimate way to determine a champion, I just don't see the point of watching those games. I wish LSU well in their upcoming game, but just because the Big 10 is the biggest obstacle to a real playoff, so I always hope their teams lose. And, so far, most of them have lost their bowl games.